Hey, it passed the Rupert test with flying colors...no focus issues, not flash issues. Unfortunately, it failed the Otis test.......the shutter is just too quiet for Otis.....but I love it! Otis liked everything else about it.......but I realize you can't please everyone, and Otis is after all, pretty Squirrely! He may not be the only one???
Best Regards!

Can't show Otis' face this week, he is working "Undercover" to solve a case where a neighbors Birdfeeder was robbed and destroyed. It was one of those "Squirrel-proof" ones, and Otis needs to find the culprit and give him a medal for "Squirrel Ingenuity".
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I purchased the Panasonic GH2 instead of the K-5 since I wanted full manual control in video mode with my Pentax mount lenses and so far it was the correct choice. I still use my K-7 for still shots (HDR etc). I have only used my K-7 in the 100-800 iso range and I don't see the K-5 with much of advantage in that range. My GH2 has very good video quality in low light @3200 iso.

Ya know what, Fontan? You made your point. You don't think so. I get it. So does everyone else on this Forum. I was interested the first time. I read it the second time and moved on. Then I was bored. Over. And. Over. And Over.

The K-5 is a blockbuster success for Pentax. Hoya is delighted - the shareholders are delighted (I KNOW this to be true).

Face the music. you're wrong.

Now you are Ignored.

Originally posted by Fontan

I am sorry, but no matter how I see it, I just cannot see this as success. Success??? Are you guys sure?? I don't even think that they are successful in damage control. They may have squeaked through it. They just might have gotten away with a big blunder.

I understand that every new product has its, you know, aspects that were overlooked, more or less. I can tell you that being a japanese, this is not the type of QC that we hold ourselves to. To me this is flat out embarrassing.

Even 645D and D FA 645 55 had some nuisances. Boy they nipped those at the bud. Can you imagine if that got out of hand?

Hey, it passed the Rupert test with flying colors...no focus issues, not flash issues. Unfortunately, it failed the Otis test.......the shutter is just too quiet for Otis.....but I love it! Otis liked everything else about it.......but I realize you can't please everyone, and Otis is after all, pretty Squirrely! He may not be the only one???
Best Regards!

Can't show Otis' face this week, he is working "Undercover" to solve a case where a neighbors Birdfeeder was robbed and destroyed. It was one of those "Squirrel-proof" ones, and Otis needs to find the culprit and give him a medal for "Squirrel Ingenuity".
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Hey Rupert, YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Great to see another of your great chipmunk pics!
I canīt wait to have my hands on my brand new K-5... Itīs waiting in NewJerser, at the house of a friend, to be picked up and bringed to me in a a month or so...

Hey, it passed the Rupert test with flying colors...no focus issues, not flash issues. Unfortunately, it failed the Otis test.......the shutter is just too quiet for Otis.....but I love it! Otis liked everything else about it.......but I realize you can't please everyone, and Otis is after all, pretty Squirrely! He may not be the only one???
Best Regards!

Can't show Otis' face this week, he is working "Undercover" to solve a case where a neighbors Birdfeeder was robbed and destroyed. It was one of those "Squirrel-proof" ones, and Otis needs to find the culprit and give him a medal for "Squirrel Ingenuity".
[/url] [/IMG]

I am sorry, but no matter how I see it, I just cannot see this as success. Success??? Are you guys sure?? I don't even think that they are successful in damage control. They may have squeaked through it. They just might have gotten away with a big blunder.

I understand that every new product has its, you know, aspects that were overlooked, more or less. I can tell you that being a japanese, this is not the type of QC that we hold ourselves to. To me this is flat out embarrassing.

Even 645D and D FA 645 55 had some nuisances. Boy they nipped those at the bud. Can you imagine if that got out of hand?

I am one of those with a K-5 that didn't have the FF fault fixed with 1.03. I am getting the my K-5 replaced within 2 weeks. I am also aiming to buy a 2nd K-5 within a similar time-period.

Yes there has also been the sensor stain problem, but anyone with that problem can get a replacement.

So no the K-5 is not a failure. I would claim it is Pentax's best DSLR ever.

If anything was a failure it was the K-7. Not because it was a bad camera. Far from it. but becuase it wasn't much of a step forward over the K20D. I know many will contend this, but as a former K20D/K10D user I had absolutely no interested in upgrading to a K-7, but as soon as I saw the specs of the K-5 I wanted one right away.

Maybe he got hold of Rupert's Air Miles card again and went on a spree.

I never know what Otis is up to...but I do know that whatever it is...it is not good. I still wake up in a cold sweat from the nightmares of that WSSA Frenzy last year when Otis roasted a Raccoon on their campfire. What was so bad was the Raccoon screams through the woods.....Otis roasted him alive. Maybe you can see why I never cross Otis.

As for the K5, a rocky road, but mine is perfect and an exceptional camera beyond my wildest expectations. Quiet, fast, accurate, and simply Amazing. Even if it took going through several, I would definitely HAVE TO own this camera. Nothing before it has even come close. When you hear that from Rupert, you are not hearing a Fanboy, you are hearing a fan of the K5....Big Time! If it wasn't so, I would be banned by now, because I would be squealing like a stuck pig....or a roasted Raccoon. You know me!

I was using a Canon 5DMk2 for some time before - but TBH the size and weight was getting to the point where I was taking it out less and less.

I've got a bunch of Pentax film cameras and love them to bits - so I had a good look at the K5. I knew about the stain issue - but by the time I came to consider it, I had a good idea that UK stock would be free from it. Also knew about the FF issue - and bought before the 1.03 firmware fix. So why did I buy it? (and more to the point, why do I not consider it a failure?)

- Size and weight
- Image quality for an APS-C
- Weather sealing
- Pentax Primes
- Build, fit and finish, usability - the controls are just in the right place for me

Didn't really see the FF issue in real world, and after 1.03 I suspect I never will. I use this camera far far more than I would ever have used the 5DMK2 and it's started me looking at more and more primes to go with it.. I just love primes

So, Pentax produced a camera that was capable of pulling me away from the 5DMK2 - I'm not saying it's better - far from it - I'm saying it had the right combination of size/durability/sealing/IQ and lenses available to get me to try it to see if it fitted with my requirements.

And it does - and in some ways it exceeds my expectations. The 5DMK2 has its quirks, and some things are poorly implemented on it, but it's still a class leading camera that produces incredible images - but for me it doesn't produce enough of them because I just don't take it out due to the sheer size and weight. The K5 is producing far far more images because I'm using it.

And so now I've leant my 5DMK2 to my photog mate who shoots weddings - he uses it alongside his 5DMK2 as a backup.. it's perfect for that. But when we go out on a photog trip together he bemoans how small my bag is, how light my kit is, how big his kit is etc.. and when the images are processed - well, there's a slight difference, but not enough for either of us to care. Oh, and I tend to keep shooting when it starts raining..

I was in Rydas' Parramatta Road, Sydney store on Monday buying a new camera bag.
I noticed that they had a K-x and a K-r on display but no K-5. I mentioned to the sales guy about the lack of a display model.

His reply was....We never get the chance to put one on display. As soon as a shipment comes in they are all sold.

If that is being a failure I am sure Pentax wouldn't mind more failures like that.